EA has released some short trailers that introduce each of the four playable characters in the upcoming game from Insomniac Games, Fuse. Since Fuse is designed to be played co-op with friends, it's a good opportunity to explore the different styles and personalities of each of the characters and consider which one you'd like to use when the game comes out.
First, we have Dalton, the wise-cracking stubble-faced white guy who is essentially the same protagonist you get in most of these kinds of games. He has a bit of baggage, however. Despite the fact that he sometimes seems like the leader of the crew – though they often seem leaderless (like when he says they should leave things well alone and Izzy ignores him, thus discovering the Fuse) – he is different from the rest. A character called Mei Ling says, “You look good, Dalton. Almost like you're one of them.” And then we get a flashback in which she instructs him to cut out a man's eyes and he obeys seemingly without question. Above all, however, expect him to be the one with the one liners, like when he responds to “You can't kill a senator,” with, “Why not? I didn't vote for him.”
Red-headed Izzy seems the rebellious type, as is obvious when she reveals the Fuse against Dalton's caution. At the start of the trailer, she is in prison, being told that the warden is in intensive care and may not last the night, to which she replies: “Bastard shouldn't have put his hands on me then.” Later on, she claims to hate people, though that's presumably a defence mechanism against past maltreatment. If you're not put off by her somewhat sour demeanour, you might want to consider choosing her for her apparent skill with technology or her lethal fighting skills.
Balancing out the familiar Dalton, we have Jacob, a black guy who is/used to be a cop. His police training presumably gives him a bit of an advantage, as we see him pull off moves like rolling through a doorway right before the door slides shut. But he also has a bit of a dark side. In the flashback that conveys his backstory, we see him pouring petrol on a car, at which point we realise there's a guy inside. “Do you know what happens to people who kill children?” Jacob says, to which the panicked prisoner demands, “What are you doing? You can't do this! You're a fucking cop!” and Jacob replies, as he sets the vehicle alight, “Not tonight, asshole.” So rebellious, like Izzy, but perhaps with a little more of a leaning towards the greater good.
Finally, Naya seems to have the closest link to the story of the game itself, as the Fuse apparently has something to do with her father. “I know how we can find the Fuse,” she says, seemingly reluctantly, “We find it through my father.” It looks like you'll come across her father in the game, too, as Dalton makes quips about a family “reunion”. Naya has one of the coolest abilities, as she can turn invisible before heading into a group of enemies and taking them out. Like the others, she is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, performing roundhouse kicks and backflips and breaking necks.
In each trailer, we get to see the relevant character pick up their Fuse weapon, and see it in action. Check out the videos to find out whether you like the look of Dalton's shield-gun-thing, for instance, or prefer Jacob's crossbow.
Fuse is due on PS3 and 360 in Spring this year. Which character would you choose?
